She’d never given much thought to the others like her. When she allowed herself to remember, she thought only of her brothers and sisters. Sometimes when the Enforcers came by, she searched their faces for signs of familiarity. She was always afraid one of them might be a child her mom had been forced to give away. Hell, maybe that was why she preferred to make deals with Enforcers instead of killing them outright like other camps tried to do.
But the time to spare their lives had come to an end. Once the outpost mission was underway, there wouldn’t be many Enforcers left alive, whether they were related to her by blood or not.
“The population control must be one reason they don’t want the outlaws to have babies,” Rylan mused. He set down his glass and swiped a bullet off the war map. “If we procreate and they don’t, we’ll eventually overtake them by sheer numbers. A million people with rocks are eventually gonna defeat a smaller community armed with guns.”
“Plus we use up resources. The council controls the Colonies through access to resources.”
He tossed the bullet into the air. “None of this really explains why you’re punishing Sloan. If anything, it’s further justification for why he should be with us. I’m down with leading a team, but we shouldn’t hamstring our efforts by leaving one of the most capable fighters at camp.”
“I’m not punishing him. Foxworth needs Sloan.”
“There are dozens of people inside your gates and enough food, water, and firepower to withstand a siege for several months. You could even leave Randy in charge.”
Yeah right. Randy was a sixteen-year-old who’d killed his first Enforcer only two months ago.
“Foxworth is more than a collection of buildings. It’s the people who are important, which is why I’d be a fool to leave anyone but Sloan in charge.”
Rylan caught the bullet in midair and set it aside. Leaning forward, with his hands clasped loosely between his legs, he looked at her earnestly. “You’ve always struck me as a straight shooter, gorgeous. You take what you want and make no apologies. It’s one of the things I like best about you. But you’re different when it comes to Sloan.” He hesitated. “If you need to talk it out, I can be a good listener.”
“Did you ask Con for his life story before you pledged your gun to him?” Reese muttered, tired of justifying her decisions to the men around her.
“Didn’t have to. We knew each other long enough that it wasn’t necessary.”
“Are you telling me you aren’t going to lead a team unless I open my veins and bleed for you?”
He made a tsking note. “Nope. Never said that. You against us getting to know each other better?”
“Right, because you’ve been so forthcoming with your life story,” Reese scoffed.
Instead of clamming up, he surprised her. “There’s not much there. I grew up on a farm. It was isolated. We struggled for supplies because we were shitty farmers. Dad whored my mom out in exchange for food, equipment, candles and shit. We’d sit on the porch while Mom and Dad’s mattress got a workout.”
He told the story of his past nonchalantly, but those meager sentences revealed a lot about him. For all his ready smiles, Rylan was as private as Reese was, and she suddenly felt bad for prodding him. She knew what it was like to walk around raw and wounded.
“My story isn’t a secret either,” she admitted. “If you asked any of the folks around here, they’d tell you. Jake and Sloan came here five years ago. We were smaller then, and my plans weren’t really clear to me at that point. I wanted to take down the council but I didn’t have the manpower, so I started sending out word through various channels that Foxworth was a community for anyone who wanted to fight the GC. We’d take you, your family, your loved ones—didn’t matter how weak you were. I figured there had to be people out there who were turned away from other camps because they were considered a liability. The young, the old, the frail, the sick.”
“Sloan and Jake aren’t any of those.”
“No, but Jake was a hothead. You remind me of him.”
“Kinky.”
She snorted. “Trust me, if you reminded me too much of him, we wouldn’t be having sex now.”
His gaze sharpened. “Is that why you turned me away in the beginning?”
Damn, he was too perceptive for his own good. “Hardly.” The lie rolled easily off her tongue.
“Ah, gotcha. Then it was because you were afraid you’d get addicted to me. I understand. It happens.”
Reese noted his cheeky grin was back in place. “Of course. That was totally it.”
“So . . .” He took on a thoughtful look. “Why was Jake a liability?”
She took another drag before continuing. “He’d already been kicked out of a number of communities. He was an amazing fighter, but he had a quick-trigger temper, a smart mouth, and he wore out his welcome faster than a bandit in an Enforcer outpost. But as a pair, he and Sloan were irresistible. They gave me solid advice on how to build our defenses. They helped turn this place into a real town. It was my idea, but Sloan was a magician at finding supplies.”